A voyage to the South Sea : $b Undertaken by command of His Majesty for the purpose of conveying the bread-fruit tree to the West Indies in His Majesty's ship the Bounty commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh; including an account of the mutiny on board the said ship and the subsequent voyage of part of the crew in the ship's boat from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch settlement in the East IndiesBligh, William
History
A voyage to the South Sea : $b Undertaken by command of His Majesty for the purpose of conveying the bread-fruit tree to the West Indies in His Majesty's ship the Bounty commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh; including an account of the mutiny on board the said ship and the subsequent voyage of part of the crew in the ship's boat from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch settlement in the East Indies
Bligh, William
Bounty (Ship); Bounty Mutiny, 1789; Oceania -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800; Voyages and travels
Iddeah sent on board for our dinners today a very fine tarro pudding; and
Tinah brought a bunch of bananas that weighed 81 pounds, on which were
286 fine fruit: ten had broken off in the carriage. The tarro pudding is
excellent eating and easily made: I shall describe this piece of cookery
as the knowledge of it may be useful in the West Indies. The tarro being
cleared of the outside skin is grated down, and made up in rolls of about
half a pound each, which they cover neatly with leaves and bake for near
half an hour. An equal quantity of ripe coconut meat is likewise grated,
from which through a strainer the rich milky juice is expressed. This
juice is heated by putting smooth hot stones in the vessel that contains
it, and the tarro is then mixed with it and kept constantly stirring to
prevent burning till it is ready, which is known by the coconut juice
turning to a clear oil.
Wednesday 25.
Iddeah was very uneasy today on account of her youngest child being ill.
She would not accept of assistance from our surgeon but said she had sent
to Tettaha for a man who she expected would come and tell her what to do.
These physical people are called tata rapaow.
Thursday 26.
This morning a man died of a consumption about two miles from our post. I
was informed of it by Mr. Peckover, the gunner, who I had desired to look
out for such a circumstance. I therefore went accompanied by Iddeah in
hopes of seeing the funeral ceremony; but before we arrived the body was
removed to the Toopapow. It lay bare except a piece of cloth round the
loins and another round the neck: the eyes were closed: the hands were
placed, one over the pit of the stomach and the other upon his breast. On
a finger of each hand was a ring made of plaited fibres of the
coconut-tree, with a small bunch of red feathers. Under the Toopapow a
hole was dug, in which at the end of a month the corpse was to be buried.
The deceased was of the lower class; the Toopapow however was neat, and
offerings of coconuts and plaited leaves lay on the ground.
The dead are sometimes brought to the Toopapow in wood coffins, which are
not shaped like ours but are simply a long box. This custom Iddeah
informed me they learnt from the Europeans, and is not very common, as
making plank is a work of great labour.
March. Monday 2.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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